The 2007 amendment to the Constitution of Kazakhstan modified
Kazakhstan's basic law, on May 18, 2007.[1] The changes followed the conclusion of the activities of the 'State Commission on Democratization' formed two years previously.
In a speech on 16 May 16 to the
joint session of the chambers of
Parliament, President
Nursultan Nazarbayev summarized the development of
Kazakhstan since independence in 1991, and outlined his proposed constitutional changes.[2]
The main changes proposed by the President were as follows:
The reduction of the presidential term from 7-years to 5-years, coming into effect after the next election in 2012
To increase the number of
senators selected by the
President, from 7 to 15
To give to the Senate the power of consultation on the appointment of a President of the
National Bank
To increase the number of Majilis deputies to 107 with 98 deputies elected by proportional representation and 9 deputies representing the
Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. The total number of the parliamentary deputies will therefore increase by 38 and will amount to 154
To strengthen the powers of political parties by depriving members of the Majilis of their mandate in the event that they are expelled from their party
To make the government accountable not only to the Head of State, but to the whole Parliament; by giving the Government a vote of no-confidence. It will be sufficient for the Majilis to have a simple majority of deputies' votes compared with the previously required two thirds of votes, in order to dismiss the government
To change, the procedure for forming the
Constitutional Council and the
Central Election Commission. This will occur via the introduction of a law whereby two thirds of the Constitutional Council, the Central Election Commission and Auditing Committee will be formed by Parliament
To change the procedure of forming the Government, where the
Prime Minister is appointed by the President, so that the approval of such appointments, and consequently that of the entire Government, is delegated to the Majilis
To introduce a change whereby the composition of the Government shall be formed according to the proposals of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister will also represent the parliamentary majority party
To abolish the constitutional prohibition of state funding of
NGO's
To develop a procedure for the partial funding of political parties from the state budget
In addition to these proposals the Kazakh parliament passed an additional amendment two days later, lifting the term-limit clause on the first
President of Kazakhstan,
Nursultan Nazarbayev. The constitution limits a president to two five-year terms, but this amendment allows the incumbent president--Nazarbayev--to run for an unlimited number of five year terms. Some critics argued this move paved the way for him to become de factoPresident for life.[4]